But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Dean Abrams

Other · Governor, Florida
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How this mark works

We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.

Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: In a September 2026 campaign post he says he will not be bought by "powerful lobbying organizations like AIPAC", without saying where he stands on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

Abrams posted “I WILL NOT BE BOUGHT.” and “Not by powerful lobbying organizations like AIPAC.” His platform says no foreign government should have influence over Florida policy: “Russian, Israeli, Chinese, or any other.” Nothing located has him taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel.

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Deep Dive

Dean Abrams is a candidate for governor of Florida with no party affiliation, and the Division of Elections lists him as qualified for the November 3, 2026 ballot with Joe Van Vactor as his running mate. His campaign site says he spent three decades leading technology and management consulting work at Microsoft, HP, KPMG and other companies, and that after September 11 he helped rebuild the emergency communications systems of New York City's first responders. Van Vactor retired from the Air Force after eighteen years and then managed disaster rebuilding projects. The campaign's August 1 post describes Abrams as an “Independent candidate for FL Governor”, and his site says the campaign is self-funded and takes no party, PAC or corporate money. The seat is open. Byron Donalds and David Jolly won the Republican and Democratic primaries on August 18, 2026, and Scott Jewett of the Libertarian Party and four other candidates with no party affiliation are also on the ballot.

What he has said on this subject is about lobbying and foreign influence. On August 1, 2026 his campaign's Facebook page published eight positions, and the second opposes any influence by AIPAC over Florida policy. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying organization that works for close ties between the United States and Israel. A September 1 post on the same page opens “As a candidate for Governor of Florida, I WILL NOT BE BOUGHT.” and lists, among those it says will not buy him, foreign interests, Big Tech and “powerful lobbying organizations like AIPAC.” The description of a campaign video he posted on July 20 reads: “No party loyalty means I'll answer to Americans. No AIPAC. No corporate donors. No hedge funds.” In another video, posted on July 27, he says he is not taking donations from AIPAC, foreign nations or corporations. A refusal to take money from a lobby is not by itself a position on what the United States sends.

His issues page, published on August 29, 2026, carries the same idea into state policy. Under the heading No foreign influence over Florida policy, it says “No foreign government should have influence over Florida policy. Period.” and adds that the standard is neutral and “applies to every one of them: Russian, Israeli, Chinese, or any other.” What he proposes there is state action: to prohibit state contracts with companies owned or controlled by foreign governments, and to keep state pension funds out of foreign entities engaged in human rights violations. He notes that the pension decision belongs to the governor, the Chief Financial Officer and the Attorney General together. The page names no country in those proposals and does not say which holdings they would reach. The same section calls his foreign policy non-interventionist and critical of “a foreign policy that costs American lives and money without a clear American interest”, again naming no country.

Nothing located has him taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, on U.S. aid to Palestinians, or on how to describe the war in Gaza. A governor of Florida casts no federal votes on any of it. What his campaign has said about an opponent's donors, and the accounts of his that could not be read, are on his research page.

In their words

“No foreign government should have influence over Florida policy. Period. The standard is neutral and it applies to every one of them: Russian, Israeli, Chinese, or any other.”
Source ↗, 2026-08-29
“As a candidate for Governor of Florida, I WILL NOT BE BOUGHT.”
Source ↗, 2026-09-01
“Not by powerful lobbying organizations like AIPAC.”
Source ↗, 2026-09-01
“No party loyalty means I'll answer to Americans. No AIPAC. No corporate donors. No hedge funds.”
Source ↗, 2026-07-20

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Our research for this card began with a search run on 2026-09-07, and every page below was opened and read on 2026-09-25 unless the entry says otherwise. His whole campaign site was read, page by page, along with the Division of Elections' candidate listing, his Ballotpedia page, the three posts and one video on his campaign's Facebook page that our research pointed to, the page's own description, and three of the videos on his YouTube channel. He has never held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his, and a campaign for state office is not covered by the federal funding records this site tracks. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • Nothing located that names the government of Israel, at any date.
  • [Position, 2026-08-29] His issues page, which records that it was published on 2026-08-29, closes its section on foreign influence with: “On foreign policy generally: non-interventionist. I am critical of the military-industrial complex and of a foreign policy that costs American lives and money without a clear American interest.” No country is named in the passage.
  • [Position, 2026-07-27] A campaign video on his Facebook page, also posted the same day on his YouTube channel under the title Now is the time to act. Its caption reads: “American sovereignty is being handed over to a foreign nation. Surveillance cameras track your every movement. How much more are we going to allow before the place we call home becomes our prison?” The caption carries the tags #hr8800 and #NDAA. H.R. 8800 is the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027. The transcript Facebook publishes with the video has him saying that Congress “hands over our sovereignty to foreign nation and their surveillance cameras everywhere tracking your movement”. Neither the caption nor the transcript names the nation, and nothing is drawn from it here. The video's main subject is license plate cameras and surveillance.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located, at any date. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, humanitarian aid for Gaza and the aid pipeline appear nowhere on his campaign site, on his YouTube channel's descriptions, or in the Facebook posts that were read.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located, at any date. The words Gaza, Palestinian, genocide and Hamas appear nowhere on his campaign site or in the posts and video descriptions that were read.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Position, 2026-08-01] A post on his campaign's Facebook page, published on August 1, 2026 by the page Dean Abrams for Governor. It reads, in part: “No Party, PAC, or Corporate Loyalties. Answering only to the People.” It then gives “Eight positions, listed plainly”, the second of which is “No AIPAC foreign lobby influence over Florida policy.” The other seven are about housing, data centers, development, surveillance, vaccine mandates, firearms and property tax. It ends: “Dean Abrams - Independent candidate for FL Governor. November 3rd ballot.” The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying organization that works for close ties between the United States and Israel.
  • [Position, 2026-09-01] A post on the same page, published on September 1, 2026. It opens: “As a candidate for Governor of Florida, I WILL NOT BE BOUGHT.” The next four lines read: “Not by foreign interests.”, “Not by powerful lobbying organizations like AIPAC.”, “Not by Big Tech companies like Palantir.” and “Not by anyone who believes a check should buy influence over Florida’s future.” It continues: “My allegiance is to the people of Florida. Period.” The rest of the post asks readers to donate and volunteer.
  • [Position, 2026-07-20] A campaign video on his YouTube channel, titled I'm Not Sucking up to Any Politicians for Clout. Its description reads: “You won't see me sucking up to any politicians for clout, especially if they've sold out the American people to Foreign nations or Corporations.” and then: “No party loyalty means I'll answer to Americans. No AIPAC. No corporate donors. No hedge funds.” No foreign nation is named.
  • [Position, 2026-07-27] The transcript Facebook publishes with the July 27 video has him closing with a request to share the message “because I'm not taking donations from Aipac, foreign nations or corporations. It's time for ordinary folks like you and me to stand up and take our nation and our state back.” The transcript is Facebook's own rendering of the spoken words, not a text he published, so the card reports this in plain words rather than quoting it.
  • [Position, 2026-08-29] His issues page, under the heading “No foreign influence over Florida policy”: “No foreign government should have influence over Florida policy. Period. The standard is neutral and it applies to every one of them: Russian, Israeli, Chinese, or any other.” It continues: “I will move to prohibit state contracts with foreign-government-owned or controlled companies, and I will work with the Cabinet to keep state pension funds out of foreign entities engaged in human rights violations. The State Board of Administration is governed by the governor, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Attorney General together, so that one is a shared decision.” Under the heading on taxes and state spending, the same page lists “removing state investments from foreign entities” among its goals. Neither passage names a country, a fund or a holding.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] The description at the head of his campaign's Facebook page begins “ONLY FL Governor candidate rejecting AIPAC & Palantir”, and ends with “America First!”. The description on his TikTok account begins “ONLY FL Gov candidate REJECTING” and continues “AIPAC & Palantir”. Both are his campaign's claim about the whole field, which was not checked against every other candidate, and neither is on the card.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] Among the other videos on the same Facebook page is a post attacking both major-party nominees, which says that Byron Donalds “has also received AIPAC-linked campaign donations!” The post's own address and date could not be recovered from the page on which it was read. It is a claim about an opponent's donors, it is not on the card, and nothing about Donalds is drawn from it.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

  • Nothing located, at any date. The words antisemitism, Jewish and synagogue appear nowhere on his campaign site or in the posts and video descriptions that were read.

What the campaign site and own pages say

  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] His campaign site's front page heads the page “Independent for Florida Governor · 2026”. It says: “This campaign takes no party money, no PAC money, and no corporate donations. It is self funded, which means there is nobody to answer to except the people reading this.” It describes his three decades “leading enterprise technology and management consulting work at Microsoft, HP, KPMG, and other American corporations”, and says that after September 11 he “helped rebuild the emergency communications systems for New York City's first responders.” It introduces his running mate, Joe Van Vactor, who “retired from the United States Air Force after eighteen years of service” and then managed disaster rebuilding projects. Its six summary headings are affordability, healthcare, surveillance and privacy, data centers, water and land, and food transparency.
  • [Position, 2026-08-29] His issues page runs to about 3,800 words and was read in full. Apart from the foreign-influence section above and the line on state investments, it is about insurance, housing, property tax, condominiums, energy and tolls, healthcare, wages, lending, taxes, lobbying rules, election systems, surveillance, data brokers, data centers, water, development, food labeling, firearms, medical consent, support for mothers, immigration, criminal justice, veterans, seniors, education, small business, mental health, disability, homelessness, domestic violence, first responders and hurricanes.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] The rest of his site, its contact, events, volunteer, donation and blog pages, carries nothing on this subject. The blog page is empty. The comments beneath the contact page are other people's words and are not recorded as his.
  • [Position, 2026-09-02] A campaign video on his YouTube channel, titled Florida is in trouble, in which his description reads: “I'm Dean Abrams, running for Governor of Florida.” and, a sentence later, “I'm NPA. No party, no PAC, no special interests.” The rest is about housing costs and property tax.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] His YouTube channel describes him as an “Independent candidate for Governor of Florida, 2026.” Its six videos are about surveillance, housing costs, food and drug companies, license plate cameras, data centers and the July 20 video above. His account on X describes him as a “Candidate for Florida Governor.”
  • A third-party profile on Civoren, last updated on May 4, 2026, describes him as a real estate agent and investor in Sarasota. That is not how his own site describes his work, and nothing from it is on the card.

The race

  • [Read 2026-09-25] The Division of Elections' record for him lists Dean Ocean Abrams for Governor with No Party Affiliation, running mate Joe Van Vactor, filed on April 16, 2026 and qualified on June 11, 2026 by paying the qualifying fee. The Division's full listing for this office shows eight qualified candidates who are not write-ins: Byron Donalds (Republican), David Jolly (Democrat), Scott Jewett (Libertarian Party of Florida), and Dean Abrams, Charles Burkett, Jeffrey Datto, Moliere Dimanche and Frank Russo, each with no party affiliation. It also shows two qualified write-in candidates, Kathy Anderson and Erik Morris. It marks Donalds and Jolly as having won their primaries.
  • [Read 2026-09-25] Ballotpedia's page for him: “Dean Abrams (No Party Affiliation) is running for election for Governor of Florida. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026.” It records that there is no incumbent in the race, that the Republican and Democratic primaries were held on August 18, 2026, and that he has not completed its candidate survey. It lists the campaign's Facebook page as facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591304616617, which is the page every Facebook post above comes from.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • The spoken words of his campaign videos, which were not listened to. Only their captions, descriptions and, for one video, the transcript Facebook publishes were read.
  • The posts on his accounts on X (https://x.com/DeanAbrams), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/dean4gov26/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@deanabrams.fl), which need a signed-in reader. Only the accounts' own descriptions opened.
  • His LinkedIn page, https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanabrams212/ , which refused every request.
  • The rest of his campaign's Facebook page beyond the posts listed above.

Not on the card, and why

  • The campaign's claim that he is the only candidate for governor rejecting AIPAC: it is a claim about every other candidate in the race, and it was not checked against each of them. It is recorded above in his own words.
  • What his campaign has said about Byron Donalds's donors: a claim about another candidate's funding, made by his opponent. Another candidate's record belongs on that candidate's own card.
  • The video that speaks of sovereignty being handed to a foreign nation and is tagged with the defense authorization bill: no nation is named in it, and no position is inferred from a tag. It is recorded above.
  • The description of him as a real estate agent on a third-party profile: his own site describes a career in technology and consulting, and the card follows his own account.
  • Three pages our research listed while telling him apart from other people named Abrams, about a former dean of the UCLA law school, the dean of Duke's law school and a social work faculty page at the University of Southern California: they concern different people, and nothing from them is used.
  • The comments beneath his Facebook posts and his contact page: other people's words.
  • His positions on insurance, housing, property tax, surveillance, data centers, water, food, firearms, medical consent, immigration, criminal justice, education and the rest of his state platform: out of scope. They are listed above so the absence is checkable.
  • Byron Donalds's, David Jolly's and the other candidates' records: they belong on their own cards.

Sources read for this card (address; opened or could not open; date read)

  • https://www.deanabrams.com/ , https://www.deanabrams.com/issues , https://www.deanabrams.com/contact-us , https://www.deanabrams.com/events , https://www.deanabrams.com/volunteer , https://www.deanabrams.com/blog and https://www.deanabrams.com/sitemap.xml (opened; 2026-09-25; the issues page records its publication on 2026-08-29)
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20260818022703/https://www.deanabrams.com/ (opened; the front page as it stood on 2026-08-18; read 2026-09-25)
  • https://www.facebook.com/61591304616617/photos/no-party-pac-or-corporate-loyalties-answering-only-to-the-peopleeight-positions-/122111918967376820/ (opened; 2026-09-25; posted 2026-08-01)
  • https://www.facebook.com/61591304616617/posts/as-a-candidate-for-governor-of-florida-i-will-not-be-boughtnot-by-foreign-intere/122118779439376820/ (opened; 2026-09-25; posted 2026-09-01)
  • https://www.facebook.com/61591304616617/videos/american-sovereignty-is-being-handed-over-to-a-foreign-nation-surveillance-camer/1034758415625014/ (opened; 2026-09-25; posted 2026-07-27)
  • https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591304616617 (opened; 2026-09-25; the page's own description only)
  • https://www.youtube.com/@Dean4Gov26 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Flt0FJdnQs , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hkzPwytXK8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwEr8xJeJPI (opened; 2026-09-25; posted 2026-07-20, 2026-07-27 and 2026-09-02)
  • https://x.com/DeanAbrams , https://www.instagram.com/dean4gov26/ and https://www.tiktok.com/@deanabrams.fl (opened; 2026-09-25; the accounts' descriptions only)
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanabrams212/ (could not open; 2026-09-25)
  • https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/CanDetail.asp?account=90433 and the Division of Elections' full listing for Governor linked above (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Dean_Abrams (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/119/hr8800 (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://www.civoren.com/candidate/dean-abrams (opened; 2026-09-25; a third-party profile)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-07 and 2026-09-25, not a claim that no other statement exists.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Byron Donalds (Republican)
  2. ✗ David Jolly (Democrat)
  3. – Scott Jewett (Libertarian)
  4. ✗ Charles Burkett (Other)
  5. – Erik Morris (write-in) (Other)
  6. – Frank Russo (Other)
  7. – Jeffrey Datto (Other)
  8. – Kathy Anderson (write-in) (Other)
  9. ? Moliere Dimanche (Other)

All Florida candidates.

But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.